MOTL Programs

March of the Living Australia is proud to offer 3 Programs – a Year 11 Student program, an Adult program and the latest addition to our range of Programs – a Young Adult program (for 20-35 year olds).

If you are interested in any of these programs you can find more information here

Watch Live!

Tune-in to the livestream broadcasts of the March of the Living main events - March and Ceremony in Auschwitz-Birkenau on Yom HaShoah, March to the Kottel on Yom Ha'atzmaut and the Mega Event in Latrun HERE.

Registration for all MOTL 2019 programs has now closed

If you were unable to register this year and are interested in finding out more about the program or would like to be added to our Expression of Interest list for the 2020 program, please contact Matan at motl@jhc.org.au or 0425 720 993 for further details.

Reflections on Sydney Yom HaShoah Commemorations - 2019

Visit our News page to read some reflections on the Holocaust commemorations held in Sydney this year.

Exciting news for MOTL Australia Alumni - April 2019

This year, several of our student alumni have been selected to participate in the 2019 MOTL Emerging Leaders Conference, taking place in Krakow, Poland, during the program period, and will also take part in the March itself - of 21 representatives from all over the world, we are immensely proud to have had three of our Australian alumni selected.

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March of the Living The mission of March of the Living is to challenge participants with two of the most significant events of Jewish history - the Shoah (The Holocaust) and the birth of the State of Israel.

The March of the Living itself, a 3-kilometre walk from Auschwitz to Birkenau, is a silent tribute to all victims of the Holocaust.

The March is designed to contrast with the death marches, which began towards the end of World War II, and continued virtually up until the Third Reich’s last days. The Nazis forced approximately 750,000 prisoners, almost half of whom were Jewish, on to the death marches. The March of the Living serves as a hopeful counterpoint to the experience of hundreds of thousands of Jews and others who were forced by the Nazis to cross vast expanses of European terrain under the harshest of conditions, and where many of them perished.

The March of the Living is joined each year by thousands of Jewish teens, adults and survivors from around the world along with many other people from diverse faiths and backgrounds, including the Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu and Jewish traditions. Students whose communities have experienced historic persecutions also participate, such as survivors of the Rwandan genocide, First Nation students and African Americans.

After spending a week in Poland visiting sites of Nazi Germany’s persecution and former sites of Jewish life and culture, participants travel to Israel the following week to celebrate Israel’s Independence Day.

A key element of the program is the participation of Holocaust survivors who share the memory of their wartime experiences with the young people in the very places where they unfolded. There is a greater urgency to encourage larger numbers of students to take part in the program in the coming years, while the survivors are still well enough to participate in this challenging trip.

March of the Living focuses not only on the Holocaust itself but also includes other facets in the Poland portion of the trip. These elements include: learning about life before the war, establishing dialogue with Polish students, and meeting with Polish Righteous Among The Nations.

According to objective third party studies, the long-term effect of the program on March of the Living alumni has been significant in terms of its impact on both Jewish and universal values. The students return with a greater commitment to Israel, to remembering the Holocaust, to strengthening their Jewish identity and practice, and to becoming involved in their local Jewish communities. March of the Living alumni have also made important social contributions to the community at large, such as assisting the homeless, combating the ongoing genocide in Darfur / Sudan etc, volunteering at home or abroad in various worthy humanitarian efforts, and working diligently to combat prejudice and hatred of every kind.

Since the participation of the first Australian delegation to March of the Living, in 2001, over 1000 Year 11 Students, 400 Adults and 200 Staff (Survivors, Educators, Madrichim and support staff) have participated in this life changing experience – “A Journey For A Lifetime”.